LAZARUS, a republican French general. This extraordinary man, and particular favourite of fortune, was born on the 24th of June 1768, at the village of Montreuil, in the suburbs of Versailles. His father, in the early part of his life, had been a soldier; but acted afterwards in the capacity of a menial servant, and was appointed to feed the hounds of Louis XV. His mother died soon after the birth of young Hoche, by which he was left in a great measure desifi- Hoche, tute, his aged father (then about 72) being unable to contribute to his support. By the humanity of an aunt, however, who kept a green stall at Versailles, he was rescued from absolute beggary. She sent him to a small school, where he acquired a tolerable knowledge of reading and writing, shewing himself at once the best and most mischievous scholar in the whole school. He was made a chorister by the rector of St Germain-en-Laye, because he found him to be a boy of a very lively disposition. He very soon discovered an insatiable thirst for information upon every subject, asking questions at those who were much older than himself, and listening with the utmost attention to the answers they returned. The ingenuity of his remarks and inquiries was often perplexing to others; but as he gradually approached towards manhood, a very remarkable change took place, both in his manners and disposition. His loquacity was succeeded by a musing, contemplative turn, and he proved by the importance of his conversation, that he had not meditated in vain.

Finding that his wants grew more numerous than could be supplied by the industry of his aunt, he formed the commendable resolution of earning his own subsistence, and accordingly became a sort of attendant in the royal stables of Versailles. His ardent character, however, soon found this situation by far too degrading; he already viewed it with abhorrence; and having accidentally met with some part of the works of Rousseau, a spirit of independence instantly seized upon him. Apprehending that he might better his situation by going abroad, to which he was strongly urged by a rascal who made a prey of him, even offered him money to enable him to prosecute the undertaking, and then gave him to understand that he was now a soldier in the French guards. Hoche, finding it wholly unavailing to remonstrate, was sent at the age of 16 to join his regiment, which was then quartered at Paris. Here he found himself possessed of no more than 125 livres (about 5l. sterling), the united result of his own economy, and the bounty he received on entering the army. Even out of this small sum he was obliged to treat his fellow soldiers with a breakfast, which exhausted his whole stock. A military life, however, soon appeared to be exactly suited to his disposition, so that he surpassed all the other recruits in the rapidity with which he learned the manual exercise; and in a single month was fit for the veteran ranks.

His limbs were admirably proportioned, his dress was always neat, and his conduct so regular, that he was made a grenadier at the request of the company. He now felt the circumscribed nature of his education, of which he was ashamed, and he determined to achieve that by his own exertions which the penury of his relations prevented them from accomplishing. He saw the necessity of a command of books, and as his pay was inadequate to the purchase of these, he determined to make up the deficiency by manual labour, with no species of which was he ever disgusted, while it put the means of intellectual improvement within his reach. He rose at the dawn of day, either to draw water, or trench ground for the gardeners in the vicinity of Paris; and at night he embroidered vests and caps.

The fruits of his industry were, at the end of the week, divided into three parts; the first was given to the substitute who mounted guard for him; the second was devoted to the incidental expenses of a convivial hour with his companions; and the third defrayed the expenses of the books which he borrowed. He now turned his whole attention to the attainment of a better knowledge of his own profession, and even ventured to point out the radical defects of the prevailing system of military tactics, and reprobated some of the regulations which obtained in the army. In spite, however, of the general gravity of his deportment, he was no enemy to occasional conviviality. Having once understood that a companion had been murdered during a quarrel in the vicinity of the metropolis, he determined not to sleep till he had taken vengeance on the assassin. Marching forth at the head of a body of his companions, to the house where the deed was perpetrated, he demolished all the windows, and destroyed the furniture; but for this he was sentenced to three months confinement in the black hole. At the expiration of this period he exhibited a spectacle truly deserving of commiseration, being deftite of linen, clothes and shoes, his face pale and disfigured, and in this condition he arrived at the barracks, where he was received by his companions with every demonstration of joy. He soon after fought a duel with a tyrannical corporal, of whom the whole regiment was afraid except the gallant Hoche. The latter fell, and Hoche received a deep cut in his forehead, which added greatly to his martial appearance.

Soon after this period appeared the celebrated pamphlet of Sieyes respecting the Third Estate, and almost every Frenchman was ready to prove that he belonged to it. The guards, it is well known, took a decided part with the people; and on the 14th of July 1789, Hoche, at the head of his companions, was among the first who seized on the Bastile. The guards were formed into the 102d, 103d, and 104th regiments, into the last of which Hoche was admitted with the rank of second adjutant, when he had an opportunity of manifesting his talents in a different channel. Improper hands having obtained the administration of the military hospital of the French guards, he minutely investigated the state of the accounts, which had been veiled with ambiguity for the purpose of deceiving. He amended the discipline of the army, and his active talents did not pass unrewarded. While the regiment was reviewed in the Ellyfan fields, Servan, the minister at war, was so delighted with the platoons of Hoche's company, that he enquired who the young man was by whom it was conducted, and he bestowed on him some flattering compliments, and in four days after sent him the brevet of lieutenant in the regiment of Rouergue. He left Paris on the 24th of June 1792, in order to join his regiment, then in garrison at Thionville. General Leveneur, who held the command in the absence of Valence, sent Lieutenant Hoche with a regiment of hussars, to procure provisions for the troops which Miranda had ordered to lay siege to Maastricht. This he executed with universal applause; and when the army of the Ardennes was ordered to recross the Meuse, Hoche succeeded in removing the powder from the abbey of Merchen, in bringing away the military chest of the division, and conducting the sick in the hospital, when everything appeared to be in the power of the enemy's hussars. Having fought in the capacity of aide-de-camp to General Leveneur, at Gutenhoven, Neerwinden, Hoche. the heights of Vertrich, and at Blangen, the republican army repassed the Dyle, breaking down the bridges; and Hoche enabled it to effect a retreat, by disputing every inch of ground along with the rearguard.

When Dumourier threw off the disguise at the camp of Maulde, arresting the deputies from the convention, General Leveneur entrusted to young Hoche the delicate charge of carrying the news to Paris. His conduct on this occasion was so highly approved of by the administration, that he was raised to the rank of adjutant-general, and chief of battalion; but he declined a higher rank than captain and aid-de-camp to his patron.

When the British troops and the Austrians besieged Dunkirk, Houchard, who was ordered to cover the place, threw in supplies under the command of Souham and Adjutant-general Houche, the latter of whom inspired all around him with enthusiasm: keeping up the spirits of the troops and harassing the enemy by frequent fallies, while the right wing and centre of the besieging army were attacked by Jourdan. Hoche constructed several advanced works before the place, and for fix weeks together was never in a bed. The representatives with the army, as a reward for his activity, appointed him chief of brigade.

Having obtained this rank, he was sent into Austrian Flanders, where invariable success attended all his movements. And when only 24 years of age, he was appointed commander in chief of the army of the Moselle, which had remained for a long time inactive, and even experienced some disgrace under Houchard. Few scenes of action could be more insignificant than that upon which Hoche was now about to enter. The Austrians and Prussians were about 100,000 strong, under the command of the first officers in Europe, which presented a formidable front from the Upper Palatinate to the Hundfruck: and almost every position might be deemed impregnable. The troops of General Hoche were nearly undisciplined, and the nature of their situation rendered them dispirited; but their leader first endeavoured to gain their confidence, which he conceived made a general invincible; he restored military discipline; investigated the characters and talents of his officers; and punished or rewarded as necessity required.

To inspire the inhabitants on the frontiers with courage was his next object, for which purpose he visited the different towns in his vicinity, frequented popular societies, and addressed them in person; so that he not only secured a high degree of confidence, but even procured volunteers, clothes, and provisions. Having received instructions from the committee of public safety to raise the siege of Bitche and Landau; he drew a number of troops from the different garrisons, and on the event of an attack on the quarter he had weakened, he gave orders to General Moreau to shut himself up in Thionville, which place he was charged to defend until death. He formed such a general plan of operations as gave the strongest evidence of his great military talents; for if the subordinate parts of it miscarried (which was actually the case), the grand object, the effecting a junction with Pichegru, who commanded the army on the Rhine, was still within his reach. By a sudden and formidable manoeuvre, he so astonished the enemy, that they immediately quitted the Sarre, and after experiencing a defeat, retired towards the heights of Blifecastel, with the loss of 700 men killed upon the field. The duke of Brunswick retreated towards Käferlautern, at which place the whole of the Prussian columns formed a junction. General Hoche was well aware that his great object would be attained, if he could vanquish the enemy at this place, and therefore he began to scale the mountains, and when he reached the plain on the top, he found them deeply entrenched. In defiance of this advantageous position, he determined to give them battle, and as soon as the signal gun was fired, he advanced from the ranks, and tolling his hat in the air, he exclaimed "Long live the republic!" The attack on his part was bold, and the defence of the enemy was obdurate; about 40,000 were engaged on each side, but the able manner in which the duke of Brunswick had fortified his position, gave him evidently the advantage. After fighting for two days, Hoche obtained little or no advantage. The ammunition of the Prussians being exhausted, he next day determined to carry their entrenchments at the point of the bayonet; but being informed that they had obtained a supply during the night, he found it necessary to retreat. But he soon after relieved Landau, and effected a junction with General Pichegru, being appointed commander in chief of both armies.

The victorious Hoche afterwards made himself master of Germerheim; Worms and Spire opened their gates to receive him, and Fort Vauban was retaken. It was his determination to cross the Rhine at Strasbourg, or Offendorf, and venture into the heart of Germany with 25,000 men; to which movement Pichegru was unfriendly, and had the address to prevail with the representatives then present to refuse their sanction. Robespierre now regarded him with a jealous eye; all his plans were treated with unmerited indignity, and his arrest was resolved on. This, however, would have been a desperate attempt at the head of his victorious troops, and therefore he was offered the chief command of the army of Italy; but no sooner had he arrived at Nice than he was sent a prisoner to Paris, where he remained confined for many months, almost entirely forgotten. Another temporary revolution procured his liberty, and Carnot consented to his being again employed, although he was far from being his warm friend.

He was appointed to the command of the army destined to protect the coasts of Cherbourg, a situation which by no means agreed with his disposition; for he was often heard to exclaim "how much happier are they who fight against the Prussians!" His situation was indeed disagreeable, for it was Frenchmen fighting against Frenchmen, and he succeeded a number of generals who had been nearly all of them degraded. His keen discernment enabled him to observe that ignorance and superstition were at the bottom of the contest, which made him adopt a plan of procedure very different from those of his predecessors; and he made this singular affection to the committee of public safety, that a "few proclamations would be productive of infinitely more effect than fifteen pounders." He checked the depredations of his own soldiers, restored the confidence of the peasantry, and so highly satisfied the government, that the command of the district of Brest was committed to him. So prodigiate and abandoned had been the conduct of his predecessors, that he could not. not procure a lodging at Rennes, which he had come to protect from the insurgents, although he offered an extravagant price for it. Soon, however, was he enabled to disarm their prejudices; for instead of hunting down the priests, he allowed the celebration of the mass, ordered the clergy to be protected, and took many of the confessors into pay. These were not like the plans of so young a man; they would have done honour to one who had studied human nature much longer than he had been in existence.

We have said that he protected both the priests and the people, but he discovered no disposition to negotiate with the chiefs. But the government having positively ordered him to do so, he began a treaty with Cormartin and some others, from which he was decidedly of opinion that the chief leaders might be gained over by money, and commissions in the republican army. He was accustomed to say, "with two hundred thousand livres and ten pair of epaulets, I could gain over a majority of these men; as for the rest, a cane will suffice." The chiefs imposed upon the representatives with the army, but the general was not so easily deceived. Clermont having been permitted to travel through the cantons in which he had some influence, ostensibly to put a period to hostilities, was arrested by orders of General Hoche, being taken in the act of issuing false affidavits. Cormartin, another rebel chief, gave the money to the royalists which he had received from the republic, and recruited an army of Chouans in the name of Louis XVIII. Government now perceived the necessity of giving General Hoche a discretionary power, who in consequence thereof arrested Cormartin; and being apprehensive that it was the design of Decis to take possession of the arsenal of Cisay, he marched against that leader, putting him and 300 of his associates to the bayonet.

When the ill-fated expedition against Quiberon was undertaken, and an English flotilla with ten thousand emigrants made a descent, and took possession, without opposition, of Penthièvre, and the peninsula it commands, Hoche having received strong reinforcements, commenced offensive operations, and determined to carry Fort Penthièvre by assault. This was opposed by the engineers as by far too desperate an undertaking, who recommended a regular siege; but the general was not to be diverted from the steady execution of his purpose. Having divided his army into three columns, he marched during the night, though assailed by a dreadful tempest. The fort was discovered about the dawn of day, which poured upon them such a tremendous fire of grape shot, that two of the divisions began to retire; but a general cry of victory soon made them return. Three hundred emigrants were put to death.

His next great military project was an expedition against Guernsey and Jersey, which we are told, was rejected by the influence of Boissy d'Anglas, who was at that time a member of the committee of public safety. But having obtained the chief command of the army of the West, the whole charge of the war in La Vendee was committed to his management, to which he was resolved to put a glorious termination, presenting the deluded people with the olive branch in one hand, and the sword in the other. Having granted a pardon to all who had been deceived, he proposed to unite the armies of Cherbourg, Brest, and the West, under the appellation of the army of the coasts of the Ocean, which by the influence of Barras, was instantly adopted. Having marched against Charette with a body of troops, that chief was seized and ordered to be executed. In passing through Sarthe, Maine, Loire, and Morbihan, with his moving columns, he gave no quarter to the chiefs, but when he beheld the ignorant peasantry in arms and at his mercy, he used to exclaim, These unfortunate people are Frenchmen! He declared the principal towns to be no longer in a state of siege; abolished martial law, dissolved military tribunals; and, after succeeding in the accomplishment of his wishes in the space of eight weeks, he was honoured with the title of Pacifier of La Vendee.

The next object which attracted his whole attention was the conquest of England, a country with which he appears to have been little acquainted. His plan, however, was much approved of by the minister of marine (Truguet); but every thing was wanting for the accomplishment of an undertaking so very extraordinary; and the attempt was restricted to Ireland alone. For this purpose he set out for Brest, and procured the removal of Admiral Villaret-Joyeuse, because he was inimical to his favourite project. General Hoche superintended the dock-yards, hastened the public works, and prepared every thing connected with a great naval equipment. It was the declaration of Rear-admiral Bruix, who fell at Aboukir, that Hoche would become the best minister of marine that France ever beheld, if he had only a single year's experience. When every thing was in readiness for the proposed descent upon Ireland, General Hoche embarked on board the frigate La Fraternité, this being the first time he was ever at sea. In a gale of wind he was separated from his army, which consisted of 15,000 men; part of the fleet appeared off the coast of Ireland, and some ships entered Bantry Bay; but without their general they could undertake nothing; and therefore after holding a council of war, they determined to return. General Hoche arrived some time after, but learning that the fleet had given up the enterprise, he steered back to the French coast, weeping, it is said, when he got the last sight of Ireland.

It was believed by some, that General Hoche would be disgraced on account of the total failure of this expedition; but instead of any such attempt, he was chosen to the command of the army of the Sambre and Meuse, which at different periods had been commanded by Jourdan, Kleber, and Bernadotte. The troops had continued for some time inactive, and so shocking were the excesses they had been accustomed to commit, that the officer whom he succeeded called them a horde of robbers. These unfavourable circumstances, however, did not terrify young Hoche, who commenced his labours with the reformation of the officers; he then bettered the situation of the men; attended to the very minutiae of the service, and he cast an eagle's eye on the conduct of the commissaries. Being also entrusted with the administration of the conquered countries, he appointed a board of five members to redress all grievances which might be brought before it.

Having signified to the enemy that the armistice was at an end, he dispatched a courier to the directory to inform inform them, "that he was now ready with a body of 86,000 men, to proceed towards the Danube, and force the enemy to make peace on such terms as might be advantageous to the republic." He accordingly began his march, crossed the Rhine without any difficulty, and occupied the heights of Neuwied. He then pursued the enemy to Dierdorff, which they were forced to abandon, while he encamped at Montabaur and Altenkirchen. The Austrians at this time lost 1000 men killed, and 8000 prisoners, with a vast quantity of baggage and ammunition. This victorious career was stopped by the news of an armistice concluded between Bonaparte in Italy and the emperor.

He once more turned his attention to the invasion of Ireland, to prepare for which he visited Paris, and afterwards went to Holland; but while he was marching a body of troops to Brest, the defeat of the Dutch fleet under Admiral De Winter completely frustrated his designs. But as the directory was at a loss for a general of character in the metropolis, Hoche was made choice of, afterwards appointed minister at war, and favoured with the unlimited confidence of Barras. But as it was suspected that Hoche was too young to hold that important office, the council of five hundred sent a message to the executive power to receive information upon this point, during which General Hoche resigned, and set off for Charleville, where he had stationed a body of troops for the purpose, it was believed, of marching to Paris. These orders being countermanded, he set off for his head quarters. Although the royalist party was gaining ground in the legislature, and the general's health rapidly on the decline, he determined to celebrate the memorable 10th of August with great pomp and magnificence. He dispatched two confidential officers, Cherin and Angereau, to assist in the revolution which took place in a few days after their arrival in Paris, while he himself was labouring under a mortal distemper. He refused to comply with the advice of his physicians; and when a messenger arrived with intelligence respecting the events of the 18th Fructidor, he rose from his bed with this exclamation, "the republic triumphs!"

Soon after this he was appointed to command the army on the Rhine, on which he repaired immediately to Strasburgh. At this place his malady increased, and perceiving that his end was fast approaching, he prepared to meet it with undaunted fortitude. He died on the 26th of September 1797.